The purpose of this patent application is to extend further the use and practicality of ski handles attached to a snow ski as per applicant's earlier mentioned U.S. Pat. No. 4,744,584. In that earlier mentioned patent application, handlebars attached to the ski are described. Nevertheless, while the basic concept works in actual skiing, in practical terms it becomes somewhat cumbersome and a nuisance due to the fact that one has to use regular, long ski poles to propel oneself on semiflat ground, to get to the chair lift and to get to the point where the descent starts, and, in the mean time, having to carry (under one's arm or in a back pack) the described ski handles or handlebars; once one starts the descent using the handlebars in a tucked-in position the ski poles now become the nuisance and one needs to tie them to one's back, all of which results in a loss of time. The loss of time can also be unpleasant since skiing is usually in very cold conditions where, like every one else, one likes to move fast.
By this invention the ski handles are interconvertible in seconds into ski poles and one does not need to carry a back pack. Furthermore, it adds the clear advantage of providing the skier almost instantly, at the push of a couple of buttons, with the choice of standard "skiing-with-poles" or "skiing-with-built-in-handles". The same device extended is a ski pole, and when telescopically shortened, a steering ski handlebar.
The prior art was cited in applicant's earlier mentioned patent. None of the existing or proposed standard ski poles can work as built-in handlebars, and conversely, none of the proposed ski-steering devices attached to the front of the skis can be detached to serve as a pair of practical ski poles. No "scooting" devices (i.e. with handlebars up front) are so easily removed as in the invention herein, where the handles disengage at the push of a button.